News published: 9 July 2026

Today the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species released its first update for 2026, publishing over 1,200 new tree species assessments and reassessments. Highlights from this update include the publication of species from the Neotropics and India, and Sorbus species from the UK and Ireland.

In December 2025, a group of experts from across the UK met to share their knowledge to reassess UK species of Sorbus. Participants from Natural England, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, the National Botanic Garden of Wales and experts in Sorbus came together in a workshop organized by Forestry England’s Westonbirt, The National Arboretum and Botanic Gardens Conservation International as part of the Global Tree Assessment.

Known as whitebeams, rowans, and service trees, there are 42 species of Sorbus only found in the UK and Ireland and almost all of them were assessed as threatened with extinction in 2016. For the majority of species, the reassessments have the same final Red List category, however, due to surveying over the last ten years, up-to-date population counts could be added to several assessments.

Sorbus devoniensis is newly assessed as Near Threatened (previously Vulnerable) due to surveys locating more individuals. Sorbus wilmottiana is now considered Critically Endangered (previously Endangered) due to the small number of remaining individuals. The species has been affected by an unknown pathogen and upgrading of the railway in the Avon Gorge. Two new species of Sorbus have been described since 2016: Sorbus fayana and Sorbus wyensis. Both species are assessed as Critically Endangered.

These updated assessments will be key in directing necessary conservation measures to protect these tree species from extinction. The Global Conservation Consortium for Whitebeams, Rowans, and Service Trees was launched in 2024 to support this aim by strengthening and coordinating conservation action for Sorbus species across their global range.

Led by Forestry England’s Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, the consortium brings together institutions and experts to collaboratively develop and implement comprehensive conservation strategies, using both in situ and ex situ approaches. Alongside this work, the consortium and BGCI have recently published the first conservation gap analysis for threatened whitebeams, rowans and service trees in the UK and Ireland. The analysis evaluates how well these species are represented in living collections and seed banks, identifies key threats and current conservation actions, and sets out priorities to guide future conservation work.

Also published on the IUCN Red List today is a recent reassessment of Corypha taliera or Tali palm. A large palm native to India and Bangladesh, it was reassessed as Extinct in the Wild (no change). The last known wild individual was located on the campus of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and was regarded as the only living representative of the species globally. The species is monocarpic, meaning it dies after flowering, but prior to the death of the remaining individual in 2010, approximately 500 mature fruits were collected. Due to this effort the Tali palm has been successfully brought back into cultivation in Bangladesh.

Assessed for the first time, Theobroma cacao (cacao/cocoa) is considered Data Deficient. Widely cultivated for many centuries, the seeds (cocoa beans) are used to make cocoa powder and chocolate. The origins of the species are uncertain and there are significant doubts regarding the identification between wild and domesticated or semi-domesticated cacao trees. More research is needed to determine the native distribution of this species, and therefore its presence in protected areas, or ex situ collections.

The work of the Global Tree Assessment and Global Tree Specialist Group continues with new assessments and further reassessments for tree species. We thank all project partners and contributors as we look ahead to the next IUCN Red List update later this year.